Van Jones to be featured plenary speaker at SVCF's Innovation Conference

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Van Jones, a Yale-educated attorney and president and co-founder of The Dream Corps, will be speaking at Silicon Valley Community Foundation's inaugural Innovation Conference, Oct. 9-11, 2016.

Philanthropists, grantmakers and corporate responsibility professionals will come together at the Hilton Union Square in San Francisco, Calif., to explore how emerging technologies are transforming education, health, jobs and the economy, and big data. This one-of-a-kind conference will feature expert speakers from various organizations that are doing groundbreaking work to influence change using new technologies.

We are thrilled that Jones will join us as a plenary speaker at the conference. Jones will share his expertise on issues regarding technology and inequality, and will challenge philanthropists to take a greater role in mitigating related risks.

Jones has significant experience on social justice, equality and innovation initiatives. For nearly two decades he has worked to develop solutions to some of urban America’s toughest problems. His leadership on social enterprises include:

The Dream Corps: A social justice accelerator that supports #YesWeCode, which helps low–opportunity youth to become computer programmers and to increase their opportunities in the tech sector. Other Dream Corps initiatives include #cut50, which aims to cut the U.S. prison population in half within the next 10 years, and Green For All, which lifts people out of poverty through green job training.

Color of Change, which works for racial fairness through its one million members

Rebuild The Dream, a 21st Century think tank that champions innovative solutions to fix the U.S. economy and uplift the next generation.

Jones is also a regular political contributor on CNN, and has written two New York Times bestsellers: The Green Collar Economy, the definitive book on green jobs, and Rebuild the Dream, a roadmap for progressives.

Watch the video below to hear Jones and Maxine Williams, Facebook's global head of diversity, discuss diversity and inclusion at last year's South By Southwest: